Art Fight 2026
My 9th year of Art Fight was a struggle, but I put out some amazing things.
Team Tragedy!! Yes, I picked it because it's blue... For a primer on what Art Fight is, check out last year’s post
2026 Art Fight Season
This year the event was a little different! For the first time it was a 3-team arrangement. Teams Comedy, Tragedy, and Mystery.
As usually I don’t really care that much about the actual competition, it’s just fun set-dressing.
I picked Tragedy! I don’t think we’re gonna win!! So many people picked the clown team (comedy) because of course.
Life Context
This was a tough year for me. My girlfriend and I have been battling the Chicago dog groomer job market for months now, and this was the month that our last ditch effort to land her a stable, dignified job fell through.
Suffice to say we were incredibly stressed until the very end of the month. That, plus Anthrocon in Pittsburgh taking up the weekend of the 4th of July…I had a lot of things taking my time.
That being said I still put out 12 pieces that I’m incredibly proud of.
1. Veryn
I was feeling a little rushed trying to get my first attack out for the year, but I’m still proud I found a super cool character! Like most pieces this year, I tried to manage my time (and low energy)…meaning not letting Perfect be the enemy of Good
Proud of:
- Overall vibe
- Color textures
- Foreshortening angles
Room for improvement:
- Depth/shading on skull
- Hands
- Expression
Kyrozon’s Revenge! ⚔️ 
2. Rieger
Again, pressed for time as I had a limited day out in Cincinnati, I wanted to see how high quality of a BEEFY scalie I could draw up in a single sitting and I’m pretty pleased!
Proud of:
- Muscle anatomy
- Coloring
Room for improvement:
- Facial structure & expression
3. Mantra
This was a cool one I had a lot of fun with. I wanted to draw another cobra, and found this very colorful, varied character. I ended up kind of falling into a harsh comic-style-ish black line shading, and I think it kind of worked but I should’ve gone harder on it.
Proud of:
- Black line shading
- Simple expression, pose
- Coloring accents
Room for improvement:
- Cobra neck looks a bit wonky
- Deeper shading
Rew’s Revenge! ⚔️
4. Lumie (and Kiln)
I love love love my friends’ weird protogens. Lumie is a really cute lava lamp protogen that I’ve drawn before, and Kiln is a unique “molten glass” character my friend Oblvon created.
I was sitting with friends at Milli and just brainblasted this goofy idea to trap Kiln as the lava lamp lava in Lumie.
For reasons still unknown I decided to go for a wildly difficult ultra-thin lineart style! I think it turned out pretty nice :3
Proud of:
- Lineart
- The pose and idea overall
- Splitting up Kiln between the lava lamp spots
- The expressions
Room for improvement:
- More thin lineart practice (for more confidence)
Courtney’s Revenge! ⚔️
Oblvon’s Revenge! ⚔️
5. Jelly
I knew I wanted to attack my very good friend Briva, but picking a character from her incredible roster is so hard…Ultimately I settled on Jelly because I’m obsessed with how she goofily breaks the rules. Is she average height? Or tiny? Hard to tell!
I found a cute picture of a shrew resting in someone’s palm and felt inspired, so that became the reference for this. Of course I made Briva’s fursona the hand holding her too.
The pose and anatomy tripped me up a few times but I’m very happy with the cute result!
Proud of:
- The idea and execution
- Cuteness
- Selling the scene
Room for improvement:
- Fluff/fur texture
- Expressions
- Shading
Briva’s Revenge! ⚔️
6. Levi
While I’m still proud of this piece, it was easily my biggest struggle this season. I think my approach of translating my friend’s comic style into my own was a bit ham-fisted and I should’ve loosened up in my approach.
I think I did a good job respecting the character’s lore, role, etc. though! I tried to depict him in a between-adventures setting and I like how it came together, even as I was trying to keep myself from over-obsessing the piece.
Proud of:
- Scene/setting
- Gritty shading
Room for improvement:
- Facial expression
- Posing
- Stylization and scalie features
Rayzr’s Revenge! ⚔️
7. Lorwell Locksmith
This was actually the first piece I started this year, but I think I got overwhelmed by some anatomy things and I put it off til later.
Definitely turned out to be one of my favorites this year! Synths are just really fun to draw, and I need to draw more.
Big fan of the Fromage board game…I used a photo and then scribbled over it with rough color and I think that looks great :3
Proud of:
- Synth texture, features
- Anatomy
- Board game idea + execution
Room for improvement:
- Hands/fingers
- More tech-details
8. Red
Simply a cool protogen I wanted to draw! I don’t actually have a lot to say about this one, as it kind of just fell into place very nicely, and I had a good, quick time from start to finish.
I just like their design, and I tried a bit of brighter shading than normal to help bring out their color :3
Comintoo’s Revenge! ⚔️
Proud of:
- Overall vibe of piece
- Simplicity and solid technique
Room for improvement:
- Drawing non-standard fingers
- Posing
9. Raspberry
My annual attack on the gf!! Last year I goofed and made this little guy VERY long. So of course this year I decided to go the other direction and chunk him up into a little bean.
I love my girlfriend and her delightful creatures. She’s truly an animal lover through and through, and her characters & her style really reflect that.
I genuinely love Raspberry. And not just because he’s been her discord profile icon for 3 years…though I’m sure that helps.
I really want to come up with my own type of silly animal mascot character like this.
Anyways, art wise not a lot to say lol. I worked hard to ensure the markings etc. were accurate but I very much beefed the anatomy on purpose :3
Girlfriend Revenge! ⚔️
Proud of:
- Matching the character’s colors
- Keeping it silly
Room for improvement:
- Loosening up for silly things like this and really getting goofy (more funky shapes)
10. Nicanor
In terms of effort, output, and finished product, I think this is my “big” piece for this year. I just really wanted to go all out on a BUFF character and really pull out all the stops, and I think I really pulled it off here.
That being said, I still restrained myself a bit—limiting time overall and rejecting some of my initial, more ambitious pose ideas.
I’m very proud of myself for pushing the muscle anatomy a bit past my comfort zone for a piece like this, and I love love how the shading turned out—especially for the veins and shoulder shine. It’s a technique I’ll definitely be bringing with me past Art Fight.
I also think I did a good job with the facial expression! Komodo dragon character (mine included) have pretty simple faces, so I’m happy with how much personality I was able to impart with the few details I was working with.
Kairune’s Revenge! ⚔️
Proud of:
- Muscle anatomy
- Lighting & shading
- Vein and muscle details
- Facial expression, details
Room for improvement:
- Foreshortening
- Clothing folds
11. Keel
Another annual tradition: attacking Somite! Lol. Somite has some really fun characters that I just really enjoy challenging myself with. The hardest part each year is choosing who to draw!
This time I challenged myself by drawing Keel, a kobold. Why is that challenging? I feel I have a weakness in drawing small characters and imparting chaotic energy.
The pose I picked really helped with both of those!
Even though it was a tough pose, I vibed it out pretty well. There really weren’t great references for this, so I’m quite pleased. Plus it served as an excuse to draw another BUFF SCALIE helllll yeahhh
Also shout out to Rayzr whose advice on how to draw decent scalie feet keeps proving useful. It wasn’t the focus of this piece, but I think it really helped shore up a BIG weakness of mine.
Kairune’s Revenge! ⚔️
Proud of:
- Posing dynamicism
- General anatomy, muscles
- Fun expression and levity
Room for improvement:
- Feet anatomy
- Expressive scalie faces
12. Juniper
A well-overdue attack on my good friend Juni! I really genuinely struggled to get the “ram” shape right (to my eye, at least). I’m happy with where it ended up but my word this was very out of my wheelhouse. Definitely need more practice!
I don’t have an issue with headshots, but as an anatomy guy I love drawing bodies. This is a headshot purely because of time constraints, as my final Art Fight.
I think I did a good job though, aside from how dark it turned out (my iPad playing color tricks on me again).
Excited to do even better with next year’s attack >:3
Proud of:
- Expression
- “She looks like a ram”
Room for improvement:
- Color
- Non-scalie expressive faces
Conclusion
Once again life got busy and complicated, and Art Fight was a welcome, solitary blast of art and creativity. I don’t feel I jumped much in skill between now and last year, but that’s okay. I’m still having fun, and still trying new things.
9 years!! Crazy. I love this event. It’s so simple and fun, but I really look forward to it each year.
I really really wish it were any other time than the heart of summer though 
Comments
The #10 Nicanor piece is definitely my fave! Yes I am biased cuz buff scalie, but the tremendous effort really shows! I was pleasantly surprised at how distinct each piece felt. Really flexing that artist muscle~
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Hi, I'm Regal!
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You did so much this year despite how busy it all was! Very impressed with all of these, but I think I'm going to have to give it to #2 - Rieger as my favorite (excluding your attack on me, of course :3c). I love the softer highlights and shadows along with a very relaxed pose showing off the amazing anatomy work! I get a very cozy vibe from it, like it's a panel pulled straight from a "slice of life" style illustration.